All Things Isaacson

Songs and Clapping

2012-01-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Since we've had such warm weather out here Caleb loves to go outside with his construction vehicles, sit in this spot and push dirt around.

Brynn learned to clap her hands. I looked back to when Caleb first clapped his hands and it was also at 9 months. I guess baby's start clapping then.

Caleb is really starting to learn songs. In addition to church songs, here's a few more.
Last Saturday Derrick and I turned on a Psych episode while Caleb was awake, that is the first time we've done that and Caleb picked up the theme song. Listen closely:

Here's Down by the Station:

Fun times

2012-01-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

Bynn had her 9 month doctor visit this month and she keeps going down on the weight charts. She went from 48th percentile at 6 months to 14th! Because she does eat so well the doctor didn't seem concerned. I might be adding in some doughnuts to her diet though, haha.

Caleb is really into Bob the Builder right now. He will put on his construction hat and ask to watch it. It's pretty cute.

Here's sweet Brynn getting a little daddy time in:

We also went to the aquarium this week to see the new attraction: sea otters. Unfortunately they were sleeping the whole time. Good thing we have year passes or I would be really disappointed. At the end they were giving out otter pops, what a cute idea!

New Blog!

2012-01-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to say that I am starting a new blog! It will have everything creative I do on it (music, flower headbands, sewing, hair styles, recipes, etc.) Check it out: What These Hands Do

Pictures and Playing

2012-01-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

Caleb has gotten into taking pictures. I am constantly deleting pictures from my camera. Mostly they are of his fingers over the lens but here are two that actually showed something.

Also, a big day has come to our house: Brynn and sit and play by herself. Here she is playing with some toys. It actually allows me to get some things done while she is awake.

2012-01-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Caleb has said a few funny things lately:

1. Derrick's work provides dinner every night for the employees. If it doesn't get eaten, it gets thrown away so Derrick brings food almost every night. Once when Caleb woke up from a nap I told him daddy was at work. Caleb said, "Daddy go to work to get food." We think Caleb really thinks that is why Derrick goes to work.

2. Continuing with the food from work thing, once I asked Caleb what he wanted for dinner. He said he wanted pizza. I told him we didn't have pizza and Caleb responded, "Call daddy, he get some from work."

3. Caleb was watching the garbage truck gather the trash. A neighbor was bringing down her trash as the garbage truck was leaving our culdesak. Caleb yelled out, "Garbage truck come back! There's one more!"

4. I gave Brynn a toy measuring tape to play with on the floor. The next time I look over Caleb has the measuring tape and I ask him if he took it from Brynn. He said, "I give her octopus." Sure enough he did replace the toy he took. At least he's considerate when he wants a toy she's playing with.

5. We were trying to change Caleb's diaper and put on his pj's. He was more wiggly than normal (if that can be possible). We asked him if he could hold still and he responded, so sincerely, "I can't do it." I don't think there could be a truer statement.

On the Brynn front, she is sitting completely without support. She always has to be doing something, whether it is simply watching something interesting, playing with a toy, eating paper or trying to get her hands on whatever I'm working on. She isn't crawling yet but she sure wants to, it's in her eyes.

Christmas

2011-12-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we stayed overnight at Derrick's parent's house for a few days. One night was a family gathering and Lynne arranged for Santa to show up. Caleb got some Christmas Peeps from Santa. We also had a white elephant gift exchange.

Caleb had fun playing with Ron and Lauren's kids. Here he is making a tunnel for the train Peter is pulling:

Christmas morning Caleb sure loved his presents. He was literally shaking as he was opening them. We think he really had too much stimulation, he even had a breakdown about a half hour after starting to open presents. It was sad but once he had some breakfast he was a lot better.

We ate sausage, eggs, french toast and smoothies for breakfast. Here's Caleb with his smoothie mustache:

When we got back home we did this over and over again:

Luckily it wasn't too cold. We had a great Christmas and loved spending time with family.

Matching Skirts

2011-12-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

I found out how to make this skirt on pinterest and since I had a little extra fabric I made one for Brynn too. I think it looks cuter on her than on me so that is why I pictured her first. I think when Brynn grows out of that one I'll have to make another because it's just too darn adorable!

Where it come from?

2011-12-21T10:43:00.000-08:00

It has started. The "where it come from?" questions. So far here is what Caleb has asked about:
1. Where finger nails come from
2. Where mail comes from
3. This is the one that has been hardest to answer: "Where messy come from?" Caleb will ask us almost everyday why we shower. We try to tell him you just get dirty from walking around everyday but he doesn't get it and we don't expect him to because we can't even explain that very well.
Before we know it the question will be where babies come from. Not looking forward to that one.

Vacation and Sickness

2011-12-16T13:47:00.001-08:00

Our San Diego vacation had it's pros and cons. Here's the story:
Friday afternoon we get into the Long Beach airport. We spend the night in Huntington Beach with my grandparents. I got to visit with my favorite cousin from the moment she was born, Jodie. I loved hearing more about her wedding plans and just talking to her! My grandparents loved Brynn. It was their first time meeting her. She would just sit in their laps so comfortably. It was very cute.
Saturday morning we drove to El Cajon. Had pizza for lunch, grandparents drove back home. We went to my parent's church Christmas party, ate food, saw Santa and watched a small performance by the primary kids.
Sunday was church and we watched 17 Miracles that night. Monday morning rolls around and, since it was raining, we went to the air museum at Gillespie Field, I have lived about a mile from that place my whole life and never knew there was a museum there. We found this cute little airplane for Caleb to get in. It had pedals so you could ride it like a bike.

Then we went to Parkway Plaza. I bought two outfits for Brynn and Caleb went on a few rides:

We got Yogurt Mill for lunch and after that I got a stomach virus. I wanted to die! I had that bad for one day, Derrick got it, Brynn got it, my dad got a mild form of it and I heard Andrew got it after we left. It was so awful, even after the stomach sickness was gone, you feel weak and have head aches for another day or two. My mother took care of both children and all the sick people. To my angel mother, thank you!
Wednesday morning the rain was gone and we felt well enough to take Caleb to the park for 2 hours. He loves being outside. Then after lunch we drove back to Huntington Beach, saw some Christmas lights and went out to dinner.
It wasn't the vacation we hoped for but at least I didn't have to take care of my children while I was sick.

Story Time

2011-12-07T15:02:00.001-08:00

1.This morning Caleb and I had a cute conversation:
Caleb: Get big, Mommy and Daddy
Me: Yes, one day you are going to get big like Mommy and Daddy
Caleb: Caleb drive car
Me: Yes, when you are big you will drive a car
Caleb points up to our picture of the temple and says: Drive to the temple
Me, while Caleb is making a motion as if he is steering the wheel: Yes, you will be able to drive to the temple and go in when you get bigger.
This was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard him say. I feel good that we have already instilled in him the importance of going to the temple and that he wants to!
2. While at our church Christmas party, Scottie, Caleb's friend from next door, see me and asks, "Where's Caleb?" I point to Caleb and Scottie runs over to where Caleb is. I love that Caleb has a little friend. Too cute!
3. Yesterday Caleb called 911 for the first time. He was playing with an app on my phone and the next thing I know Caleb says, "The phone is making funny noises." I look down to find 911 on the line. They tell me who they are and I tell them we're fine. That was embarrassing. Afterward I explained to Caleb that we don't press the "Emergency Call" button on my phone and we only use it if there is trouble. He asks, "What is trouble?" I told him if mommy or daddy are really hurt, that is trouble. Who knows, maybe he will remember that if something ever does come up.
4. We tell Caleb to not go pee pee in the bath, since he has done that on a number of occasions. One day I told him I was going to take a shower and Caleb says, "Mommy, no pee pee in shower." I told him he was right.
5. Caleb will pick up his play cell phone and say, "Derrick." This is imitating me of course. He will also call out "Danielle" or "Derrick" if he hears one of us say it.
6. Caleb is picking up on a phrase I say all the time to him. "Just a minute." He says it when he wants to procrastinate something.

Craftiness & Happiness

2011-12-05T15:45:00.000-08:00

I knew I wanted to make Brynn a Christmas flower headband, so this version of a poinsettia is what I came up with.

Brynn just loves Caleb and he loves to make her happy whether that's feeding her snacks, saying simple things like, "Good morning" or playing with her.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T11:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving morning the boys played football with the ward and the girls made the desserts for that night. We all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together. Despite the fact this was the first Thanksgiving meal Derrick and I ever did ourselves, it turned out perfect!

Caleb loved having people over to play with all the time.

Brynn was initially scared of everyone but by the end she warmed up to them. She is definitely a mommy's girl. Can you see Brynn's top teeth coming in?

We had fun playing games together and introducing Psych to my family.

We went to temple square and saw the breath-taking Christmas lights. No picture could ever do it justice.

And here's just a cute pic and video I took of Brynn on Sunday because she was so cute!

Heber Train

2011-11-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

One thing we did this weekend while my family was here was the Heber train. Well, the boys went shooting, the girls and kids went on the Heber train. Santa made an appearance and Caleb was so excited to see him. Santa came on and got off at his own platform. He stood outside the train to wave goodbye to the kids when he left. Caleb sat looking out and him and saying, "Bye, bye Santa." It was very sweet. Oh, and he knew to ask Santa for a present. He asked for a dump truck (which my mom already bought him...so he will get what he wants!)

Brynn and Another Snowman

2011-11-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

Brynn just keeps growing. She is eating solid foods wonderfully, she loves to watch Caleb and she loves to be upside down. That's right, if you ever sit her on your lap and lay her back so far that she is upside down, she doesn't want to come back up, she fights it.

I think Caleb is going to ask for a snowman every time it snows. He has so far. Here is our second snowman, this time built by Derrick:

Snowman and Little Drummer

2011-11-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

We built our first snowman, or maybe I should say penguin because that is what it looks more like.

A few days before the snow stuck, it lightly snowed. Caleb was excited but then a little disappointed when he got outside.

Oh yes, and Brynn has decided to be a drummer.

Ok, so she needs some practice.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse

2011-11-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Boy did Caleb love Halloween. On Halloween day we had Caleb draw on his pumpkin. As I was putting it back out on the porch I told Caleb, "We'll put it here so the kids can see it." When the first trick-or-treaters were walking away Caleb asked me, "Kids see pumpkin?" I told him they did and they loved it. He was so proud of his pumpkin (the only thing I drew on the face was the tongue because Caleb asked me to). Can you see the eyes, nose, mouth and hair?

Derrick took Caleb trick-or-treating. After almost every house Caleb would ask politely, "Go get more candy?" He was so excited and held his bag open and ready the whole time.
Once, Caleb was behind a pack of kids who all got one piece of candy. Then when he got up there the lady told him he was so cute she would give him extra candy and she did.

Caleb showing off his costume:

We also had a church party with soup and trunk-or-treating. Caleb loved that too he mostly played on the grass with some other boys and then I took him around to get candy. He was so sweet. He says both trick-or-treat and thank you afterward.

This week

2011-10-29T11:58:00.001-07:00

Let's start with Brynn:

Caleb loves truck books!

Caleb is not much of an eater. He has a few things he likes, eggs and orange juice are two favorites though.

Aquarium

2011-10-29T11:54:00.001-07:00

We went to the local aquarium for the first time. We saw fish, penguins, bugs, snakes and spiders. Caleb liked the fish the best.

6 Month Pictures Are In!

2011-10-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

We snuck in a few of Caleb too:

Awesome or Awful?

2011-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this video will make you either think I'm an awful mother to let my son eat ice cream out of the container, on the counter. Or, I'm a pretty cool mother that lets her kids let loose every once in a while. I choose to believe the latter. Oh, and this really is what it looks like. I knew he started to do it and I let him. He was so happy.

So, I already posted some pictures from this photo shoot but I noticed I didn't post this one and it is so cute!

6 Months, Really?

2011-10-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it but Brynn is 6 months old now. She had her 6 month check up on Monday and she's doing great! She weights 15 lbs 15 oz and is now in the 50% for weight (compared to her other appointments where she was 75%). That baby chub is already starting to melt away.
Brynn is still in the 50% for height too. She's just an average baby girl now.

Here's Brynn's first time sitting down to eat real food. She still isn't eating the cereals very well but I try every day to feed it to her. She does like those Sweet Potato Puffs however and it is so cute because Caleb likes to put them in her mouth.

Brynn is sleeping from about 7pm to 7am these days and takes 2 or 3 naps. She likes to be held, she likes to laugh when you play peek-a-boo or tickle her and she likes hold and suck on toys. She is also starting to pay more attention to Caleb. That is one I've been waiting for. It is fun to have two kids and see the way they interact with each other.
Once when Brynn was on the floor and started fussing (because princesses can't be left on the floor for too long) Caleb said, "Poor Bwynn." That is something I say when she is tired and crying and we can't put her down for some reason, or because she has been in her car seat too long. Caleb just took it to mean it's something we say whenever she cries.
Overall, Brynn is happy. When she first wakes up she gives you the cutest smiles and I feel like her face is more angelic than ever. I just like that she has a look about her now (more than just a newborn face) and it is so perfect. I love her!

These are the Days

2011-10-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I've been sewing again! I made a little outfit, headband and even booties (not pictured) for Brynn's 6 month pictures. We took those today and I will post them when we get them! Doesn't this dress look so elegant? I love it! (Thank you Pinterest for finding me a free pattern)

Thanks to a Relief Society activity at church I learned that it is ok to add spinach to smoothies. Caleb loves to make them and eat them:

Caleb picked up Brynn's blanket and said, "Bwinn blankie. Give to her?" I told him he could. He did this when he "gave it to her." (I asked him to do it again for the camera)

OH, and I forgot to mention Brynn is getting her two bottom teeth. I can't believe it. I was so excited with every new thing that happened to Caleb but with Brynn I don't want her to get bigger. I'm sad to see those new teeth coming in. Oh well. That's how time works I guess.

Halloween Bag

2011-09-26T16:51:00.001-07:00

Here is a blog that is doing a cute personalized Halloween Bag giveaway!

A Little Cuteness

2011-09-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

If this isn't the cutest thing, I don't know what is:

We were watching our favorite Sabbath appropriate video on Sunday morning and Derrick started making Brynn dance. I thought she looked like a doll since she was still in her sleep sack so I took a short video of it:

Our New Home

2011-09-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here's our new home minus the third car garage to the right:

If you are so curious as to what it looks like I provided a quick tour of our house. We still haven't unpacked everything so forgive the mess.
First Floor:

Second floor:

Backyard:

We love our new home and we love our neighbors. We are all so happy here and we can't wait to get more settled.

Bath Time

2011-09-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Is it awful that I didn't take any bath pictures of Brynn until she was 5 months old? The first kid really does get the most attention. Oh well, here's Brynn and her rolls in all their glory.

New Place

2011-09-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

We've moved, and we finally got internet last night. I'll post pictures of the actual house later but here's a start. This is what our back yard opens up to. It's nice to have the beautiful view and still be in a residential area.

We are at the top of a culdesac and there are kids all around. There is a boy next door just one month younger than Caleb! Every evening we go out there are kids in the street riding bikes and scooters and playing with toys. Our neighbors are super friendly and have welcomed us with friendly gestures (inviting me to a church activity I didn't know was going on, giving food gifts, offering to pick and eat food from their garden, etc.).
We have a trampoline in our backyard, which Caleb enjoys (he also loves the neighbor's toy gun that he is holding):

We've heard that in the field there have been mice and snakes and coyotes but our neighbor has 4 cats for the mice (which also keep the snakes away) and a big dog for the coyotes. That makes me glad because I don't want animals. Hopefully those neighbors don't move away!
Here was a little video I took during the actual move:

Whenever we leave Caleb always says, "Back, new house." He loves to explore the new house and play with all the toys he forgot he had. That will wear off soon but it is fun for now. He also loves the local park, it is BIG.
Here is a picture and video I took before and after the move:

Little Miss Brynn is now 5 months old and a happy little girl. The 5-year-old girl next door saw Brynn and asked, "What are those bumps on her legs?" Yes, those are fat rolls. She is chubby, but you just wait until she starts crawling. They will be gone before we know it. Here is her million dollar smile:

Our new address is:
618 W Canteloupe Ct.
Saratoga Springs, UT 84045

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

2011-08-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

First off, Caleb now knows how to stand and smile for a picture. This is something that only started happening recently. When he does do it, it is a closed mouth smile like above and below. I think it's kind of cute. After I take a picture he asks to see it.

We started and ended or outing at the children's garden. There were fun things for the kids like a little stream that they could drop in an object and watch it float down, a sand pit with toys and these fun metal drums:

I brought Caleb's bike and he rode around the gardens while I pushed Brynn in the stroller. I just realized I hadn't put up any videos of his new bike yet so here it is:

We also found a grasshopper:

And, I can't have a post without a picture of Brynn now can I?

Brynn is Rolling

2011-08-21T10:06:00.000-07:00

Brynn is doing a lot of baby talk these days. She was doing a lot more before I started filming but here is a little bit and some other cute moves:

Here's her roll:

Another note: Two things about this picture. One, when we moved here Caleb was terrified of the vacuum. Grandma has been holding Caleb while she vacuums and now he is used to it and isn't too scared of it anymore. He actually likes to walk around with the vacuum like this. Two, Caleb loves girl shoes. Here he is wearing Grandma's shoes. Once when we went into Lisa's room he asked to wear Lisa's pink shoes. I couldn't find them and he was so disappointed. He really did know exactly which ones he wanted.

Dresses and Yoga

2011-08-16T12:59:00.001-07:00

Two outfits I made for Brynn:

A few days ago Julie, Lynne and Lisa were doing aerobics and yoga. Caleb watched them for a while. Yesterday he saw the yoga mat on the floor and starts doing what he saw them do. I asked him if he would do it again if I got the camera and he responded, "Yeah." So I got the camera and he waited until I was ready and here is what he did:

Kids

2011-08-07T08:49:00.001-07:00

Yes, Brynn is a cute little chunk. We love her. She weighed in at 14 1/2 pounds for her 4 month check-up making her 74% in weight.
As for Caleb, Derrick took him on an outing yesterday to Home Depot. Caleb's present from the trip was a 47 cent paint brush. He loved painting water on the cement:

As for an update on Caleb's newest phrase: "Do it self." He wants to ride his bike without being pushed, open doors with no help, count numbers on his own and at other random times.

Stories

2011-08-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

-We were singing Caleb his nighttime songs. While singing "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" we let him sing the last word of every phrase (we do this a lot and he knows it well now). He did good through the first verse but then he was getting distracted by a toy tractor and not saying all the words. At the end of the song we sang, "Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves..." Caleb finished the phrase by singing the word "tractor." Yes Caleb I'm sure Heavenly Father loves tractors.
-It was Kent's birthday last week. Now whenever we pull out a desert Caleb sings, "Happy to you. Happy to you."
-I'm always asking Caleb, "Do you want to help me" and "Do you want to come with me." Now if I start to do something without asking Caleb first he says, "Help me" and "With me". He means, "I want to help you" or "Go with you."
-There was a neighborhood watch party on Tuesday night where a fire truck came. Caleb oooed and awwed over it. That night as he was falling asleep we heard him saying, "Fire twuck. Wheeoooo, wheeoooo."

Fun Days of Summer

2011-07-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here is Brynn in one of the onsie dresses (and hairpiece) I made for her. She looks so cute in them and it makes me sooooooo happy!

I think little Miss Brynn is going to be a thumb sucker

This was a fun thing we did on a warm Friday afternoon. Lisa was babysitting a 6 year old boy who was doing this with Caleb. Caleb has so much fun with other kids and I'm sure he loved this even more because he was playing with someone.

Lastly, here is a fun little thing Caleb figured out. He has this frog toy that makes noise when it goes down a shoot. Caleb discovered if he blew in it and sucked in it, it made a cool noise:

Wheeler Farms

2011-07-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Wheeler Farms on Tuesday because it was overcast and not raining. Perfect weather for Utah summer! While there we fed the ducks, saw the animals, rode on a wagon ride (pulled by a tractor) and Caleb played on the many tractors they had. It was a blast and Caleb didn't want to leave at the end. Brynn slept most of the time in the baby carrier. Everything worked out so well!

The Not so Kids Festival and Randoms

2011-07-16T21:55:00.001-07:00

Today we were invited by Julianne (sister-in-law) to a kids festival in Salt Lake City. We got there and couldn't get a hold of her on her phone. She finally called us as we were leaving and we found out we weren't at the kids festival but at the farmer's market! Oh well, Caleb still had fun and we met Scott and Julie for lunch at a taco stand. Caleb did get a cat balloon and we shared some raspberries.

Because of the mix up Julie grabbed a few things at the festival before she left. Those things were from the Home Depot stand. She got an apron, boat kit and helicopter kit. Caleb and I made the boat today (he helped me hammer in the nails). Then he brought the boat into the bath with him. He loved it, thanks Julie!

Brynn is a good girl. She eats well, sleeps well and has not been sick yet. She smiles a lot and will giggle if you really get her going. She loves being held while walking around or put under a ceiling fan while it is on. Sometimes she enjoys the swing too:

Caleb has this new thing when he is driving the toy car he likes to wear these funky glasses. He almost looks like he is trying to be cool with them. He pulls it off well I'd say.

Other Randoms:
Caleb has a few favorite phrases:
"What that is?"
"I don't know." - He uses this in the correct context too.
"Love woo." - He always says this when Daddy is leaving for work and other times.

Caleb Stories:
-We were in the basement and Grandma started talking to Caleb through the vent. Caleb got a kick out of it. When we went to a different room he looks up at the vent in there and said, "Work?" He was asking why he didn't hear Grandma's voice through that one too.
-When he brought home the balloon cat from today we told him to show the kitty his balloon and he showed it to her with much intent.
-Caleb was going on an outing with Grandma. He goes up to Brynn who is lying on the floor, looks down at her and says, "Bye Brynn. Store." I loved that he recognized her and told her where he was going.

The 4th

2011-07-05T12:35:00.001-07:00

Caleb had a lot of fun running around with all the "kids," or so he called Derrick's younger cousins. Caleb sure ate like it was a holiday: 1 piece of hot dog, some fruit then he kept going back to the dessert table and ate like 6-7 cookies. As we were leaving he could only remember one thing though:

Here's a short video of Brynn:

When we got home we did a few little fireworks since Caleb goes to bed before the sun goes down. This fireworks being legal in Utah is both cool and crazy in my opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in the state blew off a hand yesterday. Anyways, here's Caleb with his sparkler:

Short Post

2011-07-05T12:31:00.001-07:00

Caleb talks about Brynn's outfit:

"Painting" and Pool

2011-06-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

We refinished the used swing set Derrick's parents just bought. Caleb loved to help paint. We gave him some paint in the lid as you can see in this video but he soon realized others were getting paint straight from the bucket and he wanted nothing more to do with the lid. He got pretty dirty but he had fun. The day after we did it he was showing Derrick everywhere he "painted."

We had a fun Saturday night. We went to the community pool. I stayed out of the pool with Brynn and Caleb had fun with everyone else. One of his favorite things to do was watch the kids come down the medium sized water slide. He also loved the water shooting out of the ground. I was surprised to see him jump from the edge of the water into Grandpa's arms.

Brynn is doing well. She is an allstar sleeper. I thought Caleb was good with sleeping through the night at 2 1/2 months, Brynn did that before she even hit 2 months. She loves to lay on the floor and look at lights. She is often more happy on the floor than in our arms, go figure that one out. Caleb is still so sweet with her. He will often stop when he is walking by her and say, "Hi Bwynn."

Father's Day Stitches

2011-06-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

At 2 years and 2 months Caleb got his first stitches. He fell off Grandma and Grandpa's bed, hit the side table directly above his left eyebrow and split his head open. It didn't bleed a lot but boy was it opened up wide. I did not want to see Caleb get stitches so Derrick and his dad took Caleb to urgent care. Derrick said it was good I didn't go. They put Caleb in a straight jacket, the assistant held Caleb's head still and they put a cloth completely over his face, except where the stitches were being done. Caleb was crying like he was going to die. I'm sure I would feel the same way too in his position. Derrick talked to Caleb (not that it helped much) and watched the procedure. Derrick said when they cleaned it out it was twice as deep and when we saw it *shiver.
However, after the 3 stitches were done they gave Caleb a lollipop and he was much better. In fact, Caleb went straight from urgent care to nursery at church and he did great. I did feel a little bad though because they missed the cookies and brownies that were handed out to all the dads at church. Sorry guys!

Photo Shoot

2011-06-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take some newborn pics of Brynn and 2 year pics for Caleb. Lisa has a friend from high school with a nice camera and he loves to take pictures. We set up a little make up studio in the kitchen and took some pictures there and in the backyard. I think they turned out so well! Brynn is a month and a half in these pictures so it's not brand new but it's close enough for me. I didn't show Derrick the pictures until yesterday for Father's Day. I printed out my favorites and put them in a frame for a decoration for our new home, whenever we get one.

Family Fun Day

2011-06-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a stake activity where Caleb enjoyed the ice cream, bouncy house and playing in a sand pit.

First smile caught on camera and a video.

Jungle Jim's

2011-06-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

Clever name isn't it? Caleb, Brynn and I headed out to Jungle Jim's. Brynn was so good, she stayed asleep in the stroller the whole time. Caleb had been there once with Grandma and he had fun but not as much fun as I thought he would have. Maybe it was because it was his second time there.

Caleb did love the rides you put tokens in. His favorite part was actually putting the tokens in the slot.

His favorite ride was the jeep:

A close second was the airplane:

Loving Life

2011-06-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is now one of Caleb's favorite things to do. The neighbor has a bigger slide that he also likes to do this with. We have even started bringing a car or two to the park with us so he can do it there too.

I just though Caleb was so cute that I got out the camera and started asking him random questions.

Story and Memorial Day

2011-05-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

Story: At dinner the other night Caleb said, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," really fast. When Derrick turned to look at him, Caleb smiled really big then let out a burp. It was the funniest thing ever. We can't believe he had the self control to hold it in until he got Derrick's attention.
Memorial Day: Lynne's side of the family came over. It was a full house and Caleb loved it. It was so cute to see him smiling so much while running around with the other kids and having the adults pay attention to him and play with him a little bit. I am never more happy than when I see Caleb happy and yesterday he was truly happy.
What surprised me though was when I told him it was time for bed and he smiled the whole time walking to his room and getting ready. Even though he was leaving the fun, he had just been so happy that it carried through until he went to sleep. He is such a happy kid and life is a genuine joy to him. I hope that doesn't change.

Kids

2011-05-27T16:09:00.001-07:00

Caleb found shoes to match his pj's:

Here I asked Caleb to roll like a dog:

I love seeing my kids awake and happy near each other. I still find it hard to believe that I have 2 children.

We are borrowing a swing from a neighbor. Brynn likes it but doesn't love it. Here's when she is happy in it:

That kid...

2011-05-25T13:23:00.000-07:00

1. At church on Sunday I brought Caleb to nursery. He was the first kid there and I was afraid he would be nervous with me leaving since it was a new nursery and there were no other kids there yet. He quickly found a very big dump truck to play with and when I told him I was going to class he responded, "bye, bye." That kid loves nursery.
2. Good Night Moon is a book we read often. In the great green room there is a clothes line with a pair of socks and a pair of mittens. There is another page with just the mittens on the clothes line. Caleb pointed to the clothes line, looked at me and said, "Socks, go?" I had never pointed out to him before that the socks were missing in that picture. That kid is very observant.
3. Caleb was watching Sesame Street videos on the computer. I told him he had watched enough for the day and we were all done. I then told him I had to go to the bathroom. As soon as I closed the door of the bathroom he calls out, "Lisa, Lisa!" Lisa comes and turns on the video for him (of course she didn't know I said no more videos). That kid knows how to get what he wants.

We're Here

2011-05-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Utah! After the grueling task of packing and cleaning we're here. Derrick's parents drove the truck rental with my car in tow; Derrick and I drove Derrick's car with the kids. Caleb and Brynn both did so well in the car! Caleb was only fussy outside of the car but almost never in it. Brynn slept the whole time. We couldn't be more lucky. None of us got very much sleep for about a week but that's all behind us now.
We are staying with Derrick's parents for now and the kids couldn't be happier about that either. Caleb loves everyone so much. Whenever Kent walks in the room he says, "Kent" with a smile. He knows Lisa will play with him and says her name well too. Grandpa is also a favorite but he's at work and they don't get to see each other as much as Caleb would like. Grandma is the best at reading books:

Brynn started being constantly fussy early this week but finally, since last night, she has been more content, saying lots of "ooo's" and smiling at you when you talk to her. She even rolled over from tummy to back twice this morning for the first time (6 weeks).

Since Monday, Derrick and I have been running around like crazy working out things to buy a home. We went house hunting on Monday and Tuesday and yesterday we put in an offer on a home. It is a short sale so we won't hear back for a little bit but we are excited about the home we found in Saratoga Springs. We really hope it works out.

We're Moving!

2011-05-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of posts in a row and this one had to get it's own post. We are moving to Utah! Derrick interviewed at a few companies and he got 2 great offers. One at a start up in downtown San Francisco and another for a small but growing company in Utah, Corda. We were completely torn and had a really hard time deciding where to go. At first we accepted the start up in SF because he's always wanted to do one and I wanted to support him even though I did not want to move close to the city.
A week after we accepted the offer, Corda wanted to give us a better offer. Derrick got a call from Josh James, the former CEO of Omniture (a company sold to Adobe for 1.8 billion) and the person who just bought Corda. After talking to Derrick for a few minutes he gave Derrick an offer we couldn't refuse. Not only was it a great offer but Josh told Derrick he would be there for him to help further along his career (that is invaluable). Derrick accepted the offer right there on the phone. It was very hard to call the SF company and tell them we were taking another offer because they had been so nice to us but we knew it was what was right for our family.
Tomorrow (Friday) is Derrick's last day at Microsoft. We will hit the road one week later.
We have felt so blessed in our lives for many reasons. We know that all our blessings come from a Father in Heaven who loves us and we are hoping we can do even more good knowing that we have just been given such a huge blessing.
In conclusion, we now get a good job and Utah! We are looking forward to being near family and buying a home (oh how I shout for joy). Utah here we come!

Gram and Pop Visit Conclusion

2011-05-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

All in all, we had fun together. It was nice to have 2 other people to help with the kids too.

We celebrated Derrick's 29th birthday together. Happy Birthday Derrick!

We can't wait until their next visit!

Brynn's Blessing

2011-05-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful blessing day. Our neighbors, Ivana, Isabelle and Cristian came (in the middle of this picture) and Derrick's friend, Abraham, from Stanford came as well (on the left). Brynn looked beautiful and she didn't cry at all during the blessing.

Happy Hollow

2011-05-05T10:50:00.001-07:00

My parent's came in town last weekend for Brynn blessing. On Friday they took Caleb to Happy Hollow. He loved it!

At story time Caleb walked right up to the story teller and his hat was on crooked. I think it is so cute! The story teller gave Caleb five.

Caleb never wanted to go home he was having so much fun. He just wanted to ride:

Our Easter

2011-04-26T09:12:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we went to a church Easter egg hunt and Caleb picked up very quickly how to hunt for Easter eggs. Derrick took Caleb around and Derrick said Caleb would find eggs he didn't even see. So on Sunday morning when I did a little egg hunt for Caleb he knew exactly what was going on and what would be in the eggs.

In the mid morning Caleb was jumping on our bed. He likes to jump forward and land on his tummy. Well, when he lunged forward he went too far and hit the window sill at the top of our bed and got this scratch:

He cried while it pussed and became a scab. Yesterday he noticed it in the mirror for the first time and said, "nose, nose" while touching it. He knew it was not normally on his face.
We went to church then headed right to Mark and Mary's house for Easter dinner. It was a good day.
Here's a video of Brynn:

Hiller Aviation Museum

2011-04-18T18:19:00.001-07:00

This last Friday morning we went to the Hiller Aviation Museum. It was fun to go out for a family outing. We're totally taking advantage of Derrick's paternity leave and the fact that Brynn is portable.
The pictures above are of a portion of a 747. They have it made into a place where you can walk in, see where the passengers would sit (it was a 2 story plane) and then you can go into the cock pit:

There were lots of helicopters and airplanes inside. Caleb had fun but I think Derrick had more fun. He said it made him determined to fly.

Misc.

2011-04-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

This is my angel baby:

She sleeps in 5-7 hour stretches...at night! She is so much easier to take care of than Caleb was. She sleeps more, eats easily and has less diapers that leak. The hardships I have with this baby are on my own body. I had a fever one day this week, we think from a small infection on my nipple. But I'm healing. It's slow and painful when nursing on that side but it should all be over soon.
Unfortunately, Caleb is starting to get a little jealous of her. Sometimes, if Brynn cries, he will try to cry louder. He also wants to get into our laps if we are holding her. But I don't think he hates her or wants to hurt her, he just wants our attention. He did hold her the other day and it was so cute:

A Caleb quirk: He doesn't like his hands to be dirty. If his hands are dirty from eating, he will pick up his sippy cup with his wrists. Even more so with the wrists than we show in this picture. For the first time this week he asked us to "keen" (clean) his hands in the middle of a meal. Funny boy.

Caleb's 2nd Birthday

2011-04-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

To start off Caleb's birthday we took him to Vasona Park in Los Gatos. When we had Brynn, a lady at the hospital told us about this place and said our son would love it. She was right. Caleb's favorite part was the airplane. The park had a 1950's Air Force Jet that was hollowed out and made into a play structure. He also loved the train and firetruck:

For dinner we took him to Sweet Tomatoes (aka Souplantation) and he loved it, especially the jello. Then we went home and Caleb opened his presents. We tried to do web cam with my parents while he opened the gifts but our computer is having problems so it took a while. Here's what you missed Mom before web cam started working:

Caleb and Brynn

2011-04-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

Caleb loves Brynn! He wishes she were awake more often. Here's a few stories of things that have happened:
1. I was sitting on the couch holding Brynn and Caleb walks up to me with arms wide open saying, "hold." We have never asked him if he wanted to hold her before, this was all his idea. We sit him on the couch and he practically grabs her from me as I am handing her over. He was done after literally 2 seconds but it was still cute.
2. Brynn was asleep in her car seat and Caleb walks up to her saying, "Hi Brynn. Baby. Rock." He starts rocking her in the car seat. Then he gently points to her face features saying them, "eyes, nose, tongue." I show Caleb her hands and say can you give her five. He gives her a five to one hand then the other.
3. Caleb knows what her feeding time is now. When I sit down in the rocking chair to feed her he likes to get the boppy pillow for me. He will then say, "Milk. Hungry." We tell him yes, the baby is hungry and is going to drink milk.
4. Caleb was getting out of the bath and asked to see Brynn. He brought two of his bath toys to show her and placed them on her and then said, "Up." He wanted her to wake up so she could look at them. He proceeded to show her one more toy.
Here's a video from yesterday. The only thing she wants to do when she's awake is eat and you will see that at the end of the video. She was checked at the doctor's office today and is already back to her birth weight. I have a feeling she will be a chubby baby.

Brynn Danielle Isaacson

2011-04-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Born: April 7th, 2011
Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz
Height: 19 inches

I went into labor around 5pm on April 6th. Contractions started off really inconsistant but all of a sudden they became close and intense around 10pm. We got into the hospital around 11. It took too long in my opinion to get that epidural. Why did they have to ask so many questions?! This epidural was a huge relief but not as much as it was with Caleb. I actually felt something, how dare that happen :) No, it wasn't too bad once I had the epidural. After less than 5 minutes of pushing she was out at 1:48am. Fast it was!

This picture is funny to Derrick and I because even though she is over a pound lighter than Caleb was, her thighs are thicker. Caleb had chicken legs.

After we were done with the delivery room we found out we could get a private room! That was a huge blessing because when we had Caleb we had a shared room and it was a nightmare. This room even had a fold out bed for Derrick.

Caleb had no idea Brynn was even there when he met her for the first time. I think he thought it was something that was just a part of the new hospital room he had never been in before.

But when we got home he noticed her a little more and it was cute:

We love her and I was so glad I got to come home from the hospital today instead of tomorrow. I've already gotten a 1 1/2 hour nap today and it was so nice. I'm feeling good and am excited to dress up my little girl in all the dresses and headbands I've made. Yes, the flower headband she is wearing on the top picture is a creation of mine out of a ribbon I got from a baby gift. This will be fun!

Sewing and Baby Update

2011-04-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 little girl dresses I made. The one on the left is a pattern from the late seventies/early eighties, so I hope when I put it on her it won't look funky. I love the classic black with white polka dots though.
The one on the right is from a pattern I had but I totally did my own thing with it. I changed it from a full button up the front of the dress, to only the top half being buttoned up. I added elastic in the back waist to compensate for getting rid of the open up front. I also made my own sleeve pattern because I didn't like the way the sleeves looked with this style. This is my favorite dress thus far because one, it is stylish and two, I used black thread with red fabric (first time I've ever used contrasting thread).

Here are the 2 school house tunics I made, shirt versions. The first one I made is on the left and it is a little too big for me (which I am so bummed about because it turned out so cute!) so I'm hoping it fits my mom. We'll see when she comes out for the baby blessing in May.
The second one I made is on the right. I can't wait to try it on without my big belly! I also can't wait to make a dress version of this in a year when I am done nursing and can wear dresses again. Such a cute pattern!
Baby Update
I went to the doctor today. I'm almost 3cm dilated. Derrick really wants me to have this baby soon because he is looking forward to paternity leave. I'm indifferent to when she comes and am fine if it is early so I okayed the doctor to do a "membrane rub." I guess it's supposed to possibly jump start labor within 24 hours. I've been feeling cramping since the appointment but no contractions yet. We also went on about a 2 mile walk last night. We'll see what happens.

New Bed & Teething

2011-04-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Caleb got a new bed! We decided to go for a twin bed and just skip the toddler bed all together. We have yet to actually let him sleep in it because he is so good in his crib--has not climbed out once and he is just so comfortable there. Why change a good thing before we have to? We do his night time routine in the bed, read books there, and Caleb does have fun just playing on it. We got Lightning McQueen bedsheets and we just use my old comforter from before Derrick and I were married. For now, Caleb loves it. We'll see how much he likes it when he sleeps on it for the first time.

Caleb's first 16 teeth coming in didn't bother him one bit. Now, his 2 year old molars are coming in and he has been ten times more irritable than I've ever seen him. It has been that way since Sunday. He cries when he wakes up, he cries we don't give him what he wants, he cries when we do give him what he wants, he screams and thrashes and kicks and protests at everything. He hardly eats and nothing but tv will consistently make him calm. Even at the park he will all of a sudden start crying and lay down on the ground. I want my Caleb back! Hopefully it is just these teeth coming in and he will be back to normal soon. I did manage to get a sweet picture of him and a cute video with Dad (because he will have a few happy moments even with all the fits):

2011-03-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

These pictures are so cute they made me wish I had a nice camera so that they would look even better. Like any kid Caleb loves to "help" in the kitchen; and like any person his favorite part was licking the batter at the end. I just love his messy little face!

I love Caleb, he loves me

2011-03-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

Caleb and I were looking at videos on the camera, then Caleb wanted me to take a video of him. Here is what he did:

Since he started saying his numbers I asked him to count. He never says 6 or 7 so I always do the filling in:

Little Things to Remember:
1. Derrick took Caleb to a baptism while I was at my baby shower. As they were leaving the house Caleb called out "Mom, Mom." He wanted me to come. When they got to the church Caleb heard the prelude music on the piano and got really excited saying, "Mom, Mom." He was disappointed when he saw it wasn't me. I love that he loves me and shows it.
2. Caleb gets scared. When there is a loud part on his Cars movie for instance, he yells out, "Mom" and comes running to me. I will go and sit with him until the "scary" parts are over.
3. Caleb is so loving. Whenever I ask for a hug, he will usually come give me one, then he has to give Derrick one too. He can't give one parent a hug or a kiss without giving one to the other.

Utah

2011-03-10T14:13:00.001-08:00

The first picture is of me. Why you ask, because I was an 8 month pregnant bridesmaid for my friend, Annette's wedding on Saturday.

Mom, this picture is for you...the Bresee family...click to enlarge:

The other big reason why we went was because Derrick's sister Julie is getting married in two weeks and I won't be able to go because I will be too far along in my pregnancy, which is so sad. However, I was able to go to Julie's bridal shower and see her in her dress. Here's a picture from the bridal shower:

Derrick's top priority in Utah...skiing. He went on Tuesday and it was perfect. The night before he went there was 18" of fresh snow fall and while he was skiing it was sunny and not too cold. His dad joined him for the last hour and a half.

On Sunday my siblings came up from BYU to have dinner with Derrick's family. It was nice to see them. That day Caleb only got a 15 minute nap in the car, so, by dinner time he was exhausted. Here's him in a daze:

On Monday we went down to BYU to see the Carl Bloch exhibi t. Derrick's parents took Caleb to the Wilkinson Center and entertained him while we went on our own. The paintings were beautiful.
Then we all went to the Monte L. Bean Science Museum. We thought Caleb would like it more than he did but there were still a few things that interested him: the stairs and the trucks in the toddler play area. He did like seeing the animals when we first walked in but he was just tired. It was alright though, he is now adjusted to Utah time and that time will be our daylight savings time on Saturday night, so we're just going to keep him on that schedule for a few days and we'll all be good.

That night Derrick's college friend Patrick came over and we had a little jam session. It was fun to play with someone on the guitar again. It had been a while.

Funny pic (Can you see the two cats? This is how the cats are when the kids move out of the house, or so I hear):

Caleb loved the cats but they didn't return the love. They were always peaking around the corners to see if Caleb was there before they came out. When he saw them and started running toward them, they would run away.

Overall it was a fun trip. We love seeing family and it is so nice to get closer to them through talking and playing games and doing fun things together.

Children's Discovery Museum

2011-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

The same friends who took us to the discovery museum last time took us again because their year pass was about to expire. We had so much fun!

When Caleb first went into this little mirror room he smiled so big. I wish I had the camera ready for that.

This was great too. There's a play intersection with real stoplights and pedestrian buttons. Caleb, like any kid, loves pressing buttons. I loved that he could press the buttons as much as he wanted and we didn't have to worry about disrupting traffic.

Smarter Than I Realize

2011-02-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Thinking about the video I posted yesterday, I tried something today. We always sing Caleb primary songs at night and occasionally at other times. I wondered if he knew the serious songs we sang to him as well as the fun ones. Here's what I did to find out:
Me (singing): Whenever I hear the song of a...
Caleb: bir (bird)
Me: Or look at the blue, blue...
Caleb: sky
Me: Whenever I feel the rain on my...
Caleb: face (while touching his cheeks)
Me: Or the wind as it rushes by. Whenever I touch a velvet...
Caleb: Woes (rose)
Me: Or walk by a lilac
Caleb: Twee (tree)
Me: I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world. Heavenly Father created for...
Caleb: Me
Yes, Caleb knew at least the end of every phrase! I couldn't believe it. These little people really do soak in everything.

Song and Story

2011-02-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

Today before church I started singing head shoulders knees and toes to Caleb. While I was saying "knees and toes" over and over again, as the song goes, Caleb said "eyes". He knew what was coming. I started doing this and I'm so glad we caught it on camera because it is so cute (please ignore my half dried hair):

Here is a funny story about today: When we were walking out of church Caleb started fussing a bit in Derrick's arms. As I rummaged the diaper bag for the pacifier I asked Caleb, "Guess what Mommy has for you?" Caleb's response, "Candy." Wishful thinking bud.

Serious about Cake

2011-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

We bought clearance Christmas cake mix and frosting in January and last night Derrick asked if I would make it. After the cake was out of the oven Caleb discovered it cooling on the table and he got very excited for it. When it was time to frost it Caleb climbed up on a chair to watch. First I touched the top of the cake to see if it was cool enough. Caleb imitated me and said, "pat, pat" while he patted the top of the cake seriously.
While I was taking off the frosting lid Caleb grabbed the butter knife I got out to frost the cake and said "cut". Luckily I stopped him just before he actually cut the cake (but he knows we do cut cake). I frosted the cake while Caleb played with the sprinkle packet it came with. Then as I was pouring the sprinkles over the cake Caleb was picking up the sprinkles that fell on the table and carefully placed them on top of the cake. It was adorable.
After that we enjoyed Christmas cake. Derrick took the rest to work with him today because we don't need at 13x9" pan of cake at our house. I'm limited in my exercise with this 33 week pregnant belly so cutting back on sweets is a need-to-do for me.

Farm/Park

2011-02-20T20:20:00.001-08:00

After seeing this place on a friend's blog, and finding out it was free, I wanted to go. I had Saturday off of work because of President's Day weekend. The only bummer thing was that it had been raining for days. It was only lightly raining Saturday morning so we decided to go anyways. It was really cold but Caleb needed to get out of the house so bad!
We went to Emma Prusch Farm, which is a big open area with a park, picnic tables, a big barn, pens for animals and chickens roaming around. Caleb loved chasing them! It was nice because they never attacked and they would run away from Caleb but they weren't really scared of him so they never went too fast and Caleb could keep up pretty well.

In the barn we saw a sheep, goats and cows.

We were there for a little less than an hour but it was just what we needed after a week of being couped up.

We've Been Sick

2011-02-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

A week and a half ago on Tuesday I started to get a sore throat, Wednesday I could hardly talk, Thursday I had a fever, Friday a runny nose started--fever gone but still no voice or energy. Saturday I felt better but still had a runny nose and sore throat. That day Derrick had a fever, cough and chest pains, Sunday Derrick still had a fever and bad chest pains--we went to urgent care to make sure Derrick didn't have pneumonia (he didn't) but we got some codine cough syrup subscribed. Monday and Tuesday Derrick stayed home from work because even though he didn't have a fever, he still felt awful. Wednesday Caleb gets the fever and a runny nose, Thursday the fever is gone by night time but as of right now he still has a Niagra Falls type of runny nose--I wipe, wipe, wipe all day long.

Did I mention for a week Derrick and I have gotten close to no sleep? Last night was the first time in over a week that we all slept through the night...yay! This is a time that makes me dread having a newborn again.

So, our Valentines Day consisted of sickness and a speghetti dinner with garlic bread and salad (which Derrick couldn't even enjoy because with this bug food sounds awful). However, I did get Derrick some nice shirts that he likes:

AND Derrick got me what I asked for which is a pattern I've wanted for almost a year now. I saw it on my favorite sewing blog and have wanted it since. Take a look here at the Schoolhouse Tunic (second topic on this post). So cute right? The pattern though is $15. $15 for a pattern?! My limit is about $7. I finally asked for it and I'm so excited to have it. I'm going make a shirt version of it since you can't really wear dresses while nursing a baby (and I'll make a dress of it in about a year when I can wear them again). I bought the fabric yesterday and can't wait to start on it. Won't this fabric look so cute with a dark brown undershirt? I'm so excited to have a cute new shirt to wear after the baby comes!

Gloves and Books

2011-02-12T22:40:00.001-08:00

Just like Caleb loves putting on our shoes, he loves imitating us in other ways too. That includes putting on the gloves I wear to do the dishes. He cracks up when he sees this video because he thinks the word "yucky" is pretty much the funniest word there is.

Caleb loves reading. Every morning the first thing he asks for is "books." We picked up this book from the library and it has been a favorite.

Tie and Nursery

2011-02-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

Since we have 1pm church this year we have to put Caleb down for his nap at 11 and wake him just in time to get to church. As I was putting his church shirt on before his nap I told him we were going to church today. He automatically put his hand to his neck and said, "tie, tie." I told him we would put it on after his nap. He kept saying, "tie, tie" until I put him down.
When I woke Caleb up I put him straight in the car and just brought his shoes and tie with me to put on in the car. As I was putting on his shoes he said "tie, tie" and pointed again to his neck. As soon as that tie was on, he didn't say another word about it. How cute that he knows ties go on for church!
Also for a nursery update: Caleb LOVES nursery with a passion. He wants to go to nursery the second we get to church and by the end of sacrament meeting he is begging to go to nursery. We don't even have to walk him in the room, he just runs in and is happy. When we come to pick him up, he runs away from us. It is too funny but we are so glad he loves it.

Musically Inclined

2011-02-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

Today we got the new Friend magazine in the mail and it has a picture of a snowman on the front. The magazine was sitting on the kitchen table and Caleb climbs on a chair and sees it. First he says "Snowman" then he raises his hands in the air and says, "Tall, tall, tall". I couldn't believe it. Sure, we've sung him "Once There Was a Snowman" before but I couldn't believe that 1. Caleb made the connection and 2. he said the words. He is so smart!
Sticking with the music theme, here's Caleb playing his guitar. He got it as a gift from our neighbor for his first birthday but didn't have interest in it at that age. I pulled it out a few days ago and he has loved it. It is so cute when he sings along with his playing.

Bean Bag Chair, sewing and "Go?"

2011-01-27T14:47:00.000-08:00

We bought Caleb a bean bag chair because he needed somewhere to sit when he watches tv (I try to only let him watch it while I take a shower and while I make dinner). Caleb doesn't like the couches very much for sitting. He much prefers my lap and starts fussing when I take him off. Solution: a bean bag chair. He loves it!

I finished a denim dress, bloomers and a head band flower for our little girl:

Caleb does this thing now. Here's exactly how our conversation goes every time:
Caleb: "Go?" (he wants to know where something went, like a bird that flew away)
Me: "Where'd it go?"
Caleb: "Hmmmmm"

If I try to explain to him where whatever it was went he looks at me and asks again "Go?" So I just say "where'd it go?" He always puts his palms up in a questioning manner too. This has gone on for days now and he asks it about everything. I get such a kick out of it so I tried to take a video. After I say "Where'd it go?" for the 3rd time on this video you'll hear his "Hmmm"

We were waiting for some friends to come over so that's what he's saying at the end: friends.

In Dad's Shoes

2011-01-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Caleb loves walking in our shoes, literally. Here is one occurrence that happened yesterday.

Caleb has also learned a new trick that we aren't as fond of. He can now climb up on our tall bed. As soon as he figured out how to do it he was so proud of himself. The only thing is that he can't get down by himself. Let's hope we can keep him safe!
I also wanted to post about a Caleb characteristic. Caleb is friendly. He says "hi" to almost everyone he sees. Whether he's in his stroller on a walk, notices someone across our apartment complex or passes someone that looks at him in a store.
We went to Baja Fresh for dinner and Caleb was dancing in his high chair to the music playing. Two ladies at another table noticed him and Caleb said "hi". He kept dancing for them and smiling and just being adorable. As the ladies were walking out one said, "He has a great personality." I hope he keeps up the friendliness because I know it can be of great worth in the future!

Before I Forget...

2011-01-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

One day this last week I wanted Caleb to just look a little nicer than a t-shirt and jeans so I decided to put a button-up-shirt on him. As soon as I put it on him and started buttoning Caleb said, "Church."
Caleb is right in that it is usually only on Sunday when we put button-up-shirts on him. I love that he made that connection and he knows we dress differently for church than we do on other days.

Shoreline Lake

2011-01-16T09:30:00.001-08:00

I had yesterday off from work so we decided to make it a family fun morning. We went to a lake less than 10 minutes from our house and rented a canoe for an hour. It was such a beautiful day and I was so glad we went out!

Caleb did pretty good for the most part. He did try to get out of the canoe once or twice but after he realized I would not let him go anywhere, he stayed pretty stationary in front of me. I will say that the last half of the time on the lake Derrick did most of the rowing because Caleb was getting a little restless. The snacks we had for him did help though.

He's Nuts

2011-01-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

We told Caleb one day he was nuts and it's been his favorite new word. He not only says it a lot but he says it perfectly. Here's a video from the first time we called him nuts and he was still getting a hang of saying it:

Painting & a Few More Christmas Photos

2011-01-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

Derrick's Grandpa Rudy painted this picture. He made a copy of the original and gave it to us as a gift. We just got it back from the framers and we love it on our wall! Derrick has told me ever since we were first married that he would love to have one of his grandpa's paintings someday. Last year we asked about getting one, picked out our favorite and now we have it! It is so beautiful and adds so much to our rather bland living room.

Here's a few more pictures from Christmas that were on my mom's camera:

Christmas in San Diego

2010-12-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

This outfit was one of Caleb's presents from his Gram. I love it!
Christmas day we had omlets for breakfast, opened presents and went over to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner. Caleb wasn't too into opening presents on Christmas morning but when we got home and had more to open from Grandma and Grandpa Isaacson he wanted to be the one to open every present (and of course we let him).

We also drove up to Huntington Beach and Caleb's favorite part was looking at the Christmas lights:

Caleb also loved playing Andrew's uklele. He kept calling it a guitar.

One day my mom and the three of us went to the San Diego Air and Space museum. Derrick was like a kid in a candy store because he loves planes and history. Caleb liked the helicopter you could climb in. I thought it was cool that they had the Red Barron's metals.

Caleb also was taken to the park a few times. He played on the playground, saw ducks and ran around like the crazy boy he is.

Derrick and I had a good time too. Our first day there we went to the temple together...our first time back to the San Diego Temple since we were married. It was very special.
We also went on a date for lunch and a movie. We saw Harry Potter and it worked out perfect because we finished reading the last three pages of the 7th book that encompassed the movie while in the theater. We loved having babysitters for Caleb!
It was a great vacation!

Sewing + Caleb Video

2010-12-19T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here is my new Christmas present that came in the mail this last week:

I am so excited to get this because ever since we found out we are having a girl I've been constantly wanting to make things for her like dresses and headbands. I saw on a blog that you can make skirts on onesies. Here are the three I've created so far, the bottom one being my favorite:

Derrick, Caleb and I went to Chili's for dinner a few weekends ago and on one of the tiles on the table were the three colors: navy blue, white and bright yellow. I said to Derrick,"That tile would be so cute on a little girl dress. So, when I went to JoAnne's to get fabric for another onesie dress, I had my eyes out for those colors. That is where the idea for my favorite onsie dress came from.
I am thoroughly enjoying sewing and after one more onesie dress, I'm going to go for a real dress. Wish me luck!
For a Caleb fill, here's one thing he likes to do with dad because I almost never let him play at the sink:

Right now Caleb is actually sick with a runny nose, sometimes fever and we think ear infection. I'm going to try to make a doctor's appointment first thing tomorrow morning. Right now, the poor boy has been laying down for over an hour and a half and still can't fall asleep for his nap. It is so sad to see your kid sick!

Christmas Party, Treats and Presents

2010-12-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

For a month now I've been hyping up Caleb for Santa. I got books from the library with Santa, found a video with Elmo and Santa and point out Santa pictures in all the stores. I though Caleb would be prepared for meeting him but I was wrong! Caleb was really nervous walking up to him but he would stand next to him and let Santa talk to him. See:

As soon as we tried to get Caleb close to Santa for a picture the situation turned from this:

To this:

Oh well, at least he made one friend:

That night I was a part of the entertainment. After leading the children in Jingle Bells and Silent Night I played a duet that I had played with my piano teacher in high school. My mom wanted us to film it so here's a little over a minute of the song. While Derrick was filming Caleb pointed to the screen and said, "Mom." He was excited to see his mom playing, which makes me happy.

Caleb got a nativity set in the mail from his Grandma Isaacson and he was so excited to get it open:

Caleb has also been enjoying the treats of the season. Here Caleb is sporting chocolate:

Things to Remember

2010-12-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

1. Two weeks ago we were at the grocery store. Caleb waved and said "hi" to everyone that looked at him. In the checkout line Caleb said "hi" to the lady behind us:
Caleb: Hi
Lady: Hi, what's your name?
Caleb: Kay Kay (this is how he always says his name)
Lady: I'm Joan. Are you out shopping with your mommy?
Caleb: (pointing to my chest) mama

2. Yesterday I get a phone call around 5pm when Caleb and I are walking in the house from our last outside trip for the day. Caleb is never happy to come back home because he loves being outside so much. I turn on the lights put Caleb inside the house, close the door and I stand outside to talk on the phone because I couldn't hear over Caleb's crying protest to stay outside. After a minute Caleb is quiet but I stay outside. Then I see Caleb at the window. He looks at me, waves, and smiles really big like he was saying, "I found you."
Caleb disappears again. He comes back to the window holding the prescription hand cream box I had just picked up that day. Earlier I had told him not to get into the bag with the cream in it. When he held up the box he smiled really big again, shaking the box, it was like he was saying, "I got this even though you didn't want me to." Then he opens the box and pulls out the tube. Showing that to me too. The look on his face was priceless. That memory made me smile many times last night.

3. When Caleb wakes up, Derrick and I like to get him and bring him back into bed with us. However, Caleb is not very fond of sitting or laying still (I'm still waiting for a day when he will snuggle with me for more than 5 seconds). He will have us put him on the floor then he tells us "dow" for us to get down too. One morning when Caleb did this, Derrick sat up and turned to dangle his feet only inches from the ground. Caleb grabbed both of Derrick's feet and pushed them to the ground. Caleb means business when it comes to getting us out of bed.

4. Caleb loves this guy in our apartment complex named Doug. The things Caleb likes about him are: he makes funny faces at Caleb, plays peek-a-boo with him, does a funny dance for him that looks a little like an irish jig and says Caleb's name really deep. This morning Caleb saw Doug about 30 yards away on the other side of the parking lot. Caleb said, "Doug," then imitated Doug's dance and ran to him. It was so funny.